Nothing's Real but Love
by btvs
Summary: An alternate ending to 2x08 looking at what would happen if Sybil had found out about Lord Grantham trying to pay off Branson.  Inspired by the song 'Nothing's real but love' by Rebecca Ferguson.


_**Just a little one-shot dedicated to MissPixieWay, TheLastCountess and ShirleyYouJest the three best M writers on . An alternative ending to 2x08 full of Austen-style misunderstandings**_

_**If you enjoy my stories visit my utube/emmabtvs for s/b fanvideos **_

"...and I want you to leave the village!" demanded Lord Grantham to his ex Chauffeur, filled with resilience that this Irish Socialist could ever be a part of his family. With a soft smirk Tom replied 'Even though she'll come to me the moment I call! Do you really want me to leave now, when I will take her with me that same hour" Brimmed with confidence, Tom's heart spoke on his behalf as his future father-in-law stormed out the room. Tom's hands were shaking with adrenaline when he heard the door knock once more; he prepared himself for round two...

He was surprised to find that it was Sybil who had come to visit and not prepared to be the comfort she was hoping for. Sybil appeared drawn, tired and exhausted due to her mother coming down with Spanish Flu. In the depths of the night, nursing her mother, all Sybil wanted was Tom. She needed her best friend and had come as soon as she was relieved from her mother's care to see him, unaware of her father's confrontation moments earlier.

Tom was different, vacant and fleeting with his responses, not looking her directly in the eyes. As she sat down, him rushing around the room, she saw a small sheet of paper on the worn table that filled a sparse room. She only had chance to see it was her father's writing briefly as she tucked it into her nurses uniform for reading later. Unable to read Tom she announced her intentions to return later when he was in a better mood.

Tom turned to look at her directly for the first time since she entered the room, walked to her and wrapped his strong arms around her, not revealing the connection was more for him than for her. Sybil could feel Tom shaking in her arms and placed her hand on the back of his neck as she felt his head fall into the crook of her throat. She knew then that something was really wrong.

_She wanted to ask him but she feared the answer._

_He wanted to tell her but was scared to break her heart._

How do you tell the woman you love that her father tried to pay you off...?

As Sybil left the room, holding back the tears that threatened to fall, Tom bid her farewell and asked to see her later. Sybil tried to diffuse the horrid feeling in the base of her stomach that she'd never see him again.

As Sybil returned home to check on her mother, trying to take her mind off Tom's strange mood this afternoon, she remembered the paper she'd found at the hotel and excused herself to her room.

Her fingers trembled as they ran across the newly inked writing, her father's signature and a scribed sentence stating 'Leave us be, and start a new life' Tears blurred the signature of the man who raised her as she ran for the door, her legs exhausting her limits. She ran and ran through the night sky, not caring about the several passersby glaring at her, whispering about the youngest Crawley daughter shaming her heritage. She arrived at the Grantham arms, pushing past the Innkeeper to Tom's room which was luckily on the bottom floor.

It was empty, no books, no possessions, no sight of the man who had been there hours earlier...

As she returned to Downton her father was outside, taking a break from the stress of seeing his wife in such a condition. Anger leaking from her fingertips, she focused on the house away from her father, ignoring the call of her name. As her feet reached the first step inside the house she turned to the father, looked him straight in the eye and whispered. 'Do you really hate me enough to break my heart into a million pieces' walking inside the cheque fell behind her and drifted towards Robert in the Spring air.

She did not join them for dinner that night, how was she supposed to act like everything was normal when her dreams had been destroyed. She curled into a ball on her bed ignoring the soft knocks on her door and drifted into a tear-filled slumber. It was the sharp taps on her window that made her sit upright and jump to the window, it was him...

As she bolted through the door she ran towards him, her hand burning his cheek with a swift sharp slap, Tom stumbling back in shock he uttered 'What was that for?' by now most of the house had congregated outside the house to witness the commotion. With the lump in her throat, Sybil found it hard to talk but continued never the less to condemn Tom for leaving her this way.

"How could you! How could you leave? I knew it was too good to be true, just explain to me why you didn't take the money? Yes, I know that my father tried to pay you off, why didn't you just take it? And now you've come back! Why? To break my heart even further!"

The gasps of the household upon hearing about Lord Grantham's pay off were silenced by Tom 's shocked response and his move towards Lady Sybil. She tried to push him away, her fists rhythmically thrust across his chest forming a barrier between them that crumbed when he held her closer but unable to stop her from sinking to the gravel path that lay between them.

Tom joined her on his knees, his hands on her cheeks as he revealed his story...

"I never left, I went to the Inn in the next village, and I needed a bit of extra money...for this" It was at this point he produced a box from his jacket. "When your father tried to pay me off he renewed in my heart the love I've always had for you, I've never been so determine to marry you than now, to show them all that what we have is real. No money, no house and no car is like Love, nothing's real but love. Sybil Crawley, Will you marry me?"

A private moment witness by the entire staff concluded as the two lovers embraced in the driveway, both in tears and a repeated whisper of 'Yes' filled the dark of the silent Spring evening.


End file.
